ARCHIVED - Telecom Commission Letter Addressed to Michel Gilbert (NorthernTel, Limited Partnership)
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Ottawa, 28 October 2014
File number: 8740-N51-201316472
BY E-MAIL
Mr. Michel Gilbert
Associate Director, Regulatory Affairs
NorthernTel, Limited Partnership
87 Ontario West, 6th floor
Montreal, Québec H2X 1Y8
mgilbert@telebec.com
Re: Tariff Notice 368 – Expiry of exogenous adjustment
Dear Sir:
On 15 November 2013, the Commission received an application by NorthernTel, Limited Partnership (NorthernTel), under Tariff Notice 368, in which the company proposed revisions to its General Tariff to reflect the expiry of a previous Commission-approved exogenous adjustment for the recovery of non-recurring local competition and local number portability costs. The application was approved on an interim basis on 3 December 2013.
On 2 May 2014, in response to a Commission staff request for information, NorthernTel submitted, among other things, that its stand-alone monthly primary exchange service (PES) rate in forborne areas is $32.13, which includes Touch-Tone service.
Paragraph 28(1)(a) of the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission Rules of Practice and Procedure provides that the Commission may request parties to file information or documents where needed.
NorthernTel is requested to provide comprehensive answers, including rationale and any supporting information, to the attached questions by 30 October 2014.
Sincerely,
Original signed by
Michel Murray
Director, Regulatory Implementation
Telecommunications Sector
c.c.: Marie-Josée Boivin, reglementa@telebec.com
Laurie Ventura, CRTC, 819-997-4589, laurie.ventura@crtc.gc.ca
Attach. (1)
Request for information
In Telecom Regulatory Policy 2011-291, the Commission set the price ceiling for the monthly stand-alone residential PES rate at $30 in forborne exchanges. To avoid exacerbating the rate differentials in high-cost serving areas (HCSAs) during the transition period, the Commission determined that rates that were already at $30 or higher would not be permitted to increase further during that period. The Commission also determined that effective 1 June 2014, the $30 price ceiling would be increased annually by the rate of inflation.
The Commission indicated that the price ceiling for the stand-alone PES rate in forborne exchanges remains the only major price regulation the Commission will apply to those exchanges. The Commission noted that it is up to each ILEC whether to increase rates to the price ceiling and that increases are not mandatory.
NorthernTel submitted in its 2 May 2014 reply that its stand-alone monthly primary exchange service (PES) rate in forborne areas was $32.13, including Touch-Tone service. However, the company’s website shows that the current rate for this service in the forborne exchanges of Cobalt, Haileybury, New Liskeard, South Porcupine, and Timmins, as of 27 October 2014, is $32.52.
- Given that the price ceiling for stand-alone PES service in forborne areas was $30 plus the rate of inflation as of 1 June 2014 and that NorthernTel’s rate as of 2 May 2014 was already above the price ceiling in those areas, explain why NorthernTel’s website indicates that the company has increased the rate for this service.
- When did NorthernTel implement this rate increase?
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